Top Shop - Chicago

I would check into William Blair, R W Baird, Lincoln International, BMO as they all have a pretty large offices in Chicago.

Lazard also has some presence in Chicago, theres some ballers in restructuring there.

i think sagent opened its chicago shop not long ago...their head of the office is the ex-head of citi auto, so can't be that bad either if you want boutique advisory.

Thanks, everyone. So, if I understand you correctly, a shop like BMO, Lincoln Intl. or Baird provide better opportunities than somewhere like Moelis or Greenhill in Chicago because they are bigger offices? How will the hours vary and potential exits?

Well you will get more transaction experience as they are focused on middle market. Most of the exit opportunities will be to middle market pe/corporate development jobs. I cannot speak to the exist opportunities of the Moelis/Greenhill Chicago offices as they are satelite offices. Moelis is dominate in NYC and LA. Greenhill is NYC based with the majority of the people sitting there. Hours will be standard banking hours.

I dont know why you would go to a MM over a BB, especially in Chicago. I have a lot of buddies in Chicago and the analysts before them went either to megafunds, top 5 B schools, or exited banking to great corp dev gigs, VCs, etc etc.

Dont choose Lincoln Intl over Greenhill...

William Blair is at the top of the heap of small shops. Moelis and a few of the others have been trying to build out their presence, but it is still a work in progress for most of them. BDT Capital Partners (founded by Byron Trott, a Chicago Booth alum and former GS Vice Chairman) is a compelling story and would be a great option if you can get in there. They do old school merchant banking for privately held companies.

Other than that, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, JPM, and Goldman are the major players in Chicago as far as BBs go. Citi might make a recovery, but they are still rebuilding. Hope this helps.

Please dont post if you have no idea are you talking about or dont have first hand information. I personally know other analysts, associates, VPs at Chicago shops. Do you? And correct your spelling/grammar its fking terrible.

Analysts I either know or heard of have gone to TPG, Blackstone, KKR, Silver Lake, etc etc. Goldman has a minimal presence there. I always hear bad things about MS in Chicago. JPM is strong there. Citi has its Global Industrials group over there which is considered one of its top groups. CS is very strong in Chicago, etc etc.

Thanks for all your perspectives everyone. Malakari, can you speak to the experience/exits/hours at the Chicago boutiques (ie LAZ, GHL, Moelis, Lincoln, Blair, etc.)? I realize these are smaller, but I believe they are also all generalist roles, so they have their benefits. If given the option, would you only look toward the BB for exits and experience?

Both Moelis and Greenhill have great offices in Chicago. Moelis has about 25 people while Greenhill obviously has a few less. Exit ops are there...a Moelis analyst went to Carlyle last year to name one.

WIth respect to Baird/Blair/etc., Moelis/Greenhill blow these out of the water in terms of prestige and exit ops. Bottom line, here are best banks in: GS, MS, JPM, Moelis, and Greenhill. I work at an elite boutique in NYC, btw.

how's citi chicago treating you these days, malakari? great win getting those new ubs guys a couple days back.

no clue if what you are saying is true or how generously you're defining "megafund," but I know a fairly large number of people who are doing or have completed analyst stints at chicago bb's (I'm from the midwest). None have megafund offers, though I do know a guy at MDP.

chicago offices are great if you have ties to the region and want to stick around long term, as they place very well with midwestern mid-market firms and even the bigger midwestern places. The way you describe it it sounds like citi chicago was the new gs tmt or something but, as much as you'd like to try to convince yourself otherwise, it isn't. Don't mislead people on these forums.

I stand by my assertion that the Silverlake guy doesn't exist though, at least not in the large cap buyout fund.

Assessment of relative quality in this thread is pretty spot on though. GS, MS, CS, JPM are big players in region, citi is decent, ubs used to be very good a couple years back but doubt it is many more. William Blair is the best of the regionals. Can't comment on moelis/greenhill, both offices are too new.

Really appreciate all the input, everyone. One last questionable observation that I'd like to open to the group: Though BB's obviously have the largest offices, greatest number of deals, most MD's, etc., if you were to examine each group within a BB and juxtapose it with the boutiques (still being LAZ, Moelis, GHL) which are generalists, the boutiques would arguably expose the analysts to more number of deals on an individual basis.

For instance, the group I am interning with now at CS/DB/C/UBS has closed 1 M&A deal this year + 2-3 capital raising mandates. I would have to imagine that these boutiques do more than that in order to stay operational. And since their analysts are generalists, they must see more.

I think I am just in a case of buyers remorse... Trying to determine if I will return if given a FT offer.

DB has also sent analysts to megafunds

moelis chicago does on campus recruiting at northwestern. get an offer this summer wherever you are and reach out to one of the nw alums at moelis in the fall. you'll be well positioned once interviews come around.